


Don't Pile Up

by nellipot



Category: Call Me By Your Name (2017) RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Feelings, Firsts, Flirting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-04-19 14:23:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14239167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nellipot/pseuds/nellipot
Summary: "Straight guy worries he's being homophobic to gay roommate, realizes he's fallen in love with him" was areal reddit articleand now it is a real charmie fic(how many times am I going to be this self indulgent? more on this at 5)





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what's up! no one asked for this but it's here anyways! I have no agency!

Armie didn’t know what kind of predicament he was in, but he knew it was bad.

It made no _sense_ was the thing. He could be sitting there, minding his own business, and his roommate would walk in, minding _his_ own business, but then there would be some _guy_ getting dragged behind him. The dude would hang loosely off his roommate’s fingers and smile softly as they both leaned against the door frame, getting in close so Armie couldn’t hear how they whispered their goodbyes. It was innocent, sweet even, and yet all he could think about was how much he wanted to throw up.

Timmy was this weird mix of loud and bashful, he came off that way as soon as they’d shaken hands. 

“You shake hands?” Armie asked, his eyebrows quirked at Timmy’s rather enthusiastic grip. Timmy had laughed and put one hand behind his neck. 

“Man, I don’t know, it seemed like the right thing to do, so I went for it.”

The guy had a good amount of hair tucked behind his ears and into his baseball cap, Armie gave him a once over and noticed the Gucci stripes on his sneakers. _Big spender_. Timmy dragged in two suitcases, one big and one small. Armie looked through the doorway behind him but that seemed to be the gist of his belongings. 

“Dude, are you my roommate or just staying for the night,” Armie quipped. “Where’s the rest of it?” It made Timmy laugh again and look down at his stuff with him. He nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah, Sersh always says I’m a terrible gay, too minimalist.”

It was a quick beat before he looked up and sucked in a breath through his teeth. 

“ _Shit_ , that was definitely at least 1-hour-of-knowing-each-other information.” 

Armie looked at him amusedly, but wanted to make sure Timmy knew he was alright with it, so he shrugged. “Fuck who you want, as long as your dishes don’t pile up.” That made Timmy’s eyebrows raise. He leaned back like the words had pushed him there before looking at Armie with hooded eyes. 

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

It turned out that Timmy was gay _and_ a fucking slob, though. He’d kick back on the couch with a pile of pistachio shells in his hand and leave the couch with exactly none of them. 

“Who the fuck taught you that this was allowed?” Armie said, pulling a handful of shells out of the cushion cracks and pushing them into Timmy’s chest. Timmy would look at him lazily, not even un-slumping himself from where he sat on the couch, just holding Armie’s hand there and smirking. 

“It’s hot when you yell.” 

Armie would just roll his eyes. “Yah, well I must be Ryan fucking Gosling then.”

“Nah. You’re way hotter than him.” Timmy’d already be laughing, his hands up in defense, knowing what came after he said shit like that. 

It was fun, living with him, despite the random messes Armie had to hound him for. Timmy was full of life, bouncing off the walls one minute with his halting laughter, tucking his feet into himself on the couch and hiding his grin behind his hand the next. They’d watch movies together and Timmy would plead at the screen or hide behind Armie’s shoulder when the plot stressed him out; they’d go to diners at 11 at night and Timmy would bat away Armie’s attempts to steal his fries. Armie never thought he could be such good friends with his roommate. 

They were always shooting the shit though. Timmy batted his eyelashes at him and Armie gave it right back, coming on just as strong because like hell was he going to back down from a challenge. Timmy always walked through their door already calling out gushy remarks. 

“Babe, I got us milk.” His voice echoing off their thin walls. 

“You take such good care of me,” Armie would yell back, not even looking up from his computer. 

“You aren’t gonna come kiss me hello?” 

Armie wondered what their neighbors thought of them when they did this. 

“I’m like Pretty Woman, you know that.” He’d used that line before, but Timmy got a kick out of him implying he was a prostitute, so he reckoned it could make a reappearance. 

Timmy came in, jumped up on his bed and raised his phone above his face, the light of the screen creating even sharper lines to his jaw. Armie felt Timmy poking on his arm from his desk at the foot of the bed, finally looking up to see socked toes curling onto his bicep. 

“Pay attention to me,” Timmy whined. Armie closed his laptop.

“Anything for you.” He swooned. 

Timmy grinned as he peered down from this horizontal position, eyes crinkling even more so because of the angle. “Let’s go out tonight,” he offered. Armie jutted his lip out as a soft-yes. 

“Yah we can, what? Hal’s? Or the Greek place on the corner?” Timmy looked at him confusedly then laughed. 

“No! Like out, out. Like to the Maxx.” He waggled his eyebrows. Armie frowned.

“How would it be fun for you to babysit me around a gay club?” He questioned, but the answer was obvious: it wouldn’t. Timmy rolled his eyes. 

“It’s not a _gay_ club, there just happen to be a lot of gays that _go_ to it, which makes it even _better_. Come on, it’ll be fun, I’m gonna bring Saoirse, and maybe if you’re lucky you can have your way with me right there on the dance floor.” He winked.

It was funny, because Timmy said some seductive shit, but if you actually watched his face while he said it, he looked a like a baby panda trying to trick you into giving him more bamboo. Armie had decided that during a very eventful night of them watching Animal Planet documentaries and drinking a little too much beer. A baby panda was itching his back and it looked like he was _dancing_ , and if that wasn’t Timmy he didn’t know what was. He couldn’t get that out of his head whenever he saw him now.

“Saoirse doesn’t even _like_ me,” Armie groaned, spinning around in his desk chair. 

“She likes you dude! I just gotta get you in the same room more often, you know, like exposure therapy.” Timmy was leaning up on his elbow now, playing with his fingers and smiling as he looked up.

“What the fuck? Is that what’s supposed to make me feel better?” He’d said all of two words to Saoirse the night they first met, had mostly been bickering with _Timmy_ the whole time, and yet every time he looked up she’d been giving him this glare that made him feel like he was being read his rights. He’d already gone through that with a U-Haul in Texas 2 summers ago, so he’d be happy to be taken out of _her_ holding cell, too, if he had the choice. 

“Let’s just go! We’ll have fun, and if we don’t we can come home.” 

“ _Fine_ ,” Armie conceded. “You promise?”

“I promise,” Timmy sat up and hit him on the shoulder, dragging out the words like he was offended Armie would think otherwise. “Get ready.” He said before leaving the room. 

Armie pulled on a nicer t-shirt and got his jeans out of the closet, didn’t do much to his hair but deemed himself presentable. Timmy was pulling his hair behind his ears in front of their mirror when Armie walked out. He was dressed in skin tight jeans and a shiny bomber jacket, a white shirt hanging loosely off his chest. He looked Armie’s way and blew out an impressed breath. 

“Yeah you’re right, maybe we should stay in tonight,” he said, making a point to ogle Armie up and down. 

“Shut the fuck up,” Armie laughed. He pushed two fingers into Timmy’s forehead as he passed. “How many shots do I get to take before Saoirse gets here.”

“How ever many you can take in like, three minutes man, she’s in the elevator right now” Timmy bit his lip to stifle his laughter. _Fuck_. Armie ditched the idea of finding a glass and went straight for the bottle. Timmy cheered him on with a wooping fist until they heard a knock at the door.

“Pony!” Saoirse smiled and gave Timmy a huge hug, kissing up and down his cheek profusely. Timmy laughed and held her by the waist, nuzzling under her neck like he wasn’t half a foot taller than her, like they hadn’t just seen each other probably hours before. 

“Hey Sersh,” He said, pulling back and looking over to Armie at the counter. “Armie’s decided we’re taking pulls tonight apparently,” gesturing to Armie’s grip on the bottle sans-shot glasses. Saoirse smiled at him pointedly. 

“Hi Armie,” her Irish accent making it sound more like Ermie than anything else. Armie smiled weakly.

“Hey Saoirse, nice to see you.” His voice was still a little shaky after downing the amount of Greygoose he had. It coupled well with the intense fear this girl enacted in him. Timmy smiled amusedly at the interaction before sucking in a breath. 

“Alright!” He clapped. “Let’s get these shots down so we can be dancing already!” He walked towards Armie to reach for the bottle in his hand, tipped it back and gulped, his neck elongated with the action and bobbing up and down with each swallow. He coughed and shivered when he stopped.

“Whose next?”

—

They all got past the ropes fairly easily, though Timmy did have to recite his birthday and address to the bouncer, even is _zodiac_ , which Armie was not going to let him live down. He poked at Timmy’s shoulder when they finally got in and Timmy shoved him with an elbow to his chest. He was a little tipsy, so it actually swayed him a bit.

The club was dark and crowded. Armie used his monstrous genetics to peer above the piled bodies and jerked his head so they would follow him to the bar. They shouted their orders and leaned against the counter, taking in the scene. Armie looked down to where Timmy was trying to yell something in his ear and crouched forward towards his neck, placing a hand on his hip for balance. 

“Isn’t this fun?” Was what Armie made out through the noise.

“Yeah,” he shouted back. “I fucking love being the tallest dude in a room where I can’t hear myself think.” Timmy laughed and knocked his head into Armie’s chest, pushing him away just to lean back in closer. 

“You sound like a grandpa.” He said, hitting Armie’s bicep reassuringly. Saoirse was behind him, talking sweetly to the bartender as she shook some concoction and poured it into a dainty martini glass, already on her game. Armie smiled and shrugged, taking his hand off of Timmy to reach for the glass the bartender just slid to him. He took a long drink and could feel Timmy still staring at him from his peripherals. 

“Hey!” Armie turned and saw some dude to Timmy’s right, obviously not greeting the both of them. He was tallish and blond, looked like someone you would see in the photo that was there before you put the real picture in the frame. He rolled his eyes, but then heard Timmy respond.

“Hey.” Half his face was covered by the drink he was tipping back, but his eyes were right on the dude as he did it. There was this silent energy between them as he put the glass back onto the counter. 

“Dance with me,” the guy shouted, putting his hand right where Armie’s was not two minutes ago. Timmy shrugged a yes, bit his lip when he looked at Armie as the dude dragged him away. Armie couldn’t do anything but stare. 

He was... disgusted. Why was he so disgusted? They hadn’t said anything lewd or touched in a provocative way. He’d touched Timmy just the same and hadn’t felt anything but warmth. The way they looked at each other, all knowing and keyed up, made Armie sick. He didn’t like the way Timmy’s eyes flicked up and down the dudes chest, how willingly they touched their hands together and disappeared into the crowd. 

He could see Timmy from there if he craned his neck. His hands were in the back of that dudes wavy hair and on the small of his back, and their foreheads were almost touching as they moved to the beat. Timmy had this fiery look in his eyes and he was looking down at the dudes lips, and it made Armie have the shittiest taste in his mouth. He cringed, couldn’t look over there anymore, tried to avert his eyes towards anything else. 

He saw two other guys straight in front of him, kissing as they ground up against each other, faces in each other’s space and no one else’s. He watched them closely for a second, trying to see if he felt the same way about their obviously-more-intense movements. He _didn’t_. It was just kissing to him; he could have theoretically watched it for the rest of the night without feeling that same ache he felt when he watched Timmy do whatever he was doing over there. 

“What are you staring at?” He turned and had forgotten Saoirse was there on his side.

“What? Nothing, I just -” His voice trailed off. He wasn’t going to tell someone who already hated him that he just found out he was homophobic. 

Armie never thought of himself as _being_ homophobic though, and he knew everyone said that but it was true. His best friend in the whole world came out to him when they were sophomores in high school and it didn’t change a thing, they were thick as thieves even to this day. He’d gone to 4 years worth of pride parades and like, knew who RuPaul was, so. There was no reason for his entire gut to clench at the sight of Timmy living whatever life he pleased.

“I don’t think I’m feeling too well,” he said instead. Saoirse looked at him with actual concern and rubbed his arm. 

“Too much booze?” She questioned. 

“Yeah,” Armie nodded. “That must be it. I’ll just go tell Timmy that I’m gonna head out.”

That was easier said than done. The thought of him having to walk up to where Timmy was, be up close and personal with him and his new boyfriend, made him hot with anger. He did it though, stiffly poking at Timmy’s back when he was too engrossed to notice he was near him. 

Timmy turned slightly, then fully when he realized it was Armie. The dude did not let up behind him, holding onto his waist as Timmy panted and looked up at Armie with wide eyes. 

“I think I’m gonna go.” Armie shouted, his eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed.

“What? Why?” Timmy looked confused and helpless, he licked his upper lip and stared at him for an answer.

“I’m just, I feel sick. I already called a cab.” 

“I’ll come with you -”

“No, just don’t. You can stay, I don’t want to ruin anything.” He let his eyes glance towards the dude plastered onto Timmy’s back and tried his hardest not to wince. He turned and didn’t look back when Timmy shouted his name, needing to get out of there before he said or did anything offensive. 

When he got home he didn’t know if he was woozy from the alcohol or the night he just had. He smacked his lips at himself in the bathroom mirror, fixing up his hair and putting it back down, running a hand up his t-shirt clad chest. He really looked at himself, trying to find something but not knowing what. It made him madder, so he brushed his teeth in the living room instead and fell asleep on the couch after spitting into the kitchen sink. 

—

He woke up and Timmy was using his legs as a backrest, his curls drooping down to cover his eyes as he typed on his phone with a soft smile. Armie nudged him off with his knee, turning his face into the cushion and closing his eyes again.

“You’re alive,” Timmy said, mimicking what Armie reckoned was supposed to be Dr. Frankenstein, his fingers clenching up in the air. He bounced back down onto the couch and held Armie right above his elbow. “How are you man, you scared me last night.” Hazy memories started to come back to him. The warm club, the pushing bodies, Timmy’s rhythmic embrace. He cringed internally, realizing how weird it must have looked when he bolted.

“Yah sorry, it must have been a bug or something. I slept it off.” He shrugged. Timmy smiled and squeezed his arm. 

“Thank god, I can play mother hen, but I would have expected a reward after.” He smirked.

“You know I always come through on those.” Armie smiled back. 

Timmy could say stuff like that and he wasn’t even phased, and it confused him the more he thought about it. Wouldn’t someone homophobic hate joking around like this? Shy away from Timmy’s light touches and low voice? Maybe he was just having a weird night, maybe it was something else that was getting to him, because he could not think of liking Timmy any less just because he was gay. He’d known that for too long for that to be what was bothering him.

“Saoirse was really worried about you too, you know,” Timmy pointed out as he slathered butter on his toast. 

“I appreciated that, looks like all I had to do was dry heave to get some affection.” Armie smiled, accepting the piece Timmy handed him.

“Fuck, you were that sick? I knew I should have left with you. I promised I would.” Timmy was shaking his head as he walked back to the fridge and Armie couldn’t make out what his face looked like, but he could tell he was beating himself up.

“Dude, no, seriously I didn’t want that. You were having... fun.” He shouldn’t have brought it up, he didn’t know what he was going to say if Timmy told him any details. 

“Yah, but. I don’t know. You’re my roommate.” It was weird when their relationship was put out in such simple terms. It was true though. That’s what they were. At least Timmy had the courtesy to speak with a tone that deemed the word important. Armie waved his hand.

“Stop. I’m fine. And I was thinking about fucking off and playing Mario Kart for the rest of the day, so,” he gestured towards his room. “Shall we?” 

Timmy finally smiled, but in the same moment bit his lip like he had something to say. “I’m actually going to brunch with that dude I met last night. Connor. But I already planned on bringing you back the strawberry waffles, I swear.” His hands were held up guiltily.

“...You’re going to Hal’s?” 

“Yeah, he asked me for a good coffee place and I told him I liked it there. I didn’t know he was going to invite me to go too.” He shrugged meekly. 

“Right. Okay yah, I’ll see you, then.” Armie said awkwardly, because what else was he supposed to say? Of course the guy was asking him out, Timmy was a fool to think otherwise. He couldn’t be mad at him for going to the diner they frequented. He could go wherever he wanted, Armie wasn’t his master.

“I’ll be back, and then I can watch you think you’re winning the race when you’re actually just looking at the wrong screen.” He smirked, slapped Armie’s face gently, and went to go get his coat. Armie stood there dumbly before realizing he didn’t want to be there when Timmy came back out of his room. 

Why did Timmy like this guy so much? They were gonna see each other for the second time this weekend, which was pretty fucking serious. It made him feel like shit to think of Timmy out with a guy, then even worse when he realized how stupid he was for feeling like shit. Just because he wasn’t into guys, didn’t mean Timmy couldn’t be. He never thought he would ever have to train his brain to think that. 

It went on like this, with Armie finally believing that everything was fine, that he didn’t hate Timmy for liking guys, and then immediately feeling like shit every time a guy was brought up. He’d relapse back to incredible anger, in this exhausting cycle of guilt and dread. He could see it hurting Timmy, when he declined offers to hang out, or zoned out as soon as he said Connor’s name. He didn’t _want_ to hurt him, but he didn’t know what else to do, he didn’t want to hurt Timmy in another way. 

So he kept sipping his coffee, let Timmy say goodbye to Connor by the door with his chest feeling like it was about to cave in. When the door finally shut he could feel the hesitancy in Timmy’s steps toward him. “Hey, watcha doin today?” Timmy said softly, hand resting on Armie’s shoulder, and Armie flinched. Timmy pulled his hand back like he’d been burned.

“Um, nothing. Nothing.” He hated this. He didn’t look Timmy in the eye because then he’d see how crumpled his face looked. He hated doing this to him. He hated himself for feeling this way for no reason. He just wanted things to go back to normal. “Have you seen Treehouse Masters yet?” He could try. He could pretend everything was fine for one episode. 

He looked up and Timmy visibly released a breath. “No, I mean, the latest episode? No, I haven’t.” It was the least confident he’d ever seen him. He was always awkward, but it was usually at his benefit. He just looked tired now.

“You better not have, I would have been pissed.” Armie got up and shoved him with his shoulder, went over to lie on the couch and find the remote. He looked up and Timmy was still in the same spot. “Come on, I hear this one’s got a _bridge_.” He waggled his eyebrows. It made Timmy smile and start to move towards him. 

“Oh yah? Where’d you catch that gossip from?” Timmy fell onto the spot beside him.

“Oh, you know. Around.” Armie pretended to be very distracted with pulling up the episode, but he loved that they were teasing each other again. 

“They always have bridges, Armie.” Timmy deadpanned.

“Do they? I hadn’t noticed.”

—

“What do you think they do when they’re not building tree houses?” 

“What?” Armie laughed. “Fucking...eating, dude, and like, living their lives.” He moved Timmy’s feet off of his lap to find himself something to drink.

“Yah but like, do you think they’re constantly walking by trees and thinking, fuck, this would be a good place for a tree house.”

“ _Oh_ yeah, for _sure_ , and they like have all the dimensions in their head and are like, wow, that’s the branch I’ll put the jacuzzi deck on.” 

Timmy was laughing with his eyes squeezed shut and Armie had to press the cold can to his face for him to notice he was handing it to him (Maybe he didn’t _have_ to, but it was funny when he jerked away). He batted Timmy’s legs just to pull them back on top of him as he settled down, and Timmy scrunched his toes on his thighs. 

“You would look hot climbing up a treehouse ladder.” Timmy sighed. 

“I _would_ look hot.” Armie agreed, his voice muffled at the end as he took a long sip. “You would look like a baby panda.” He said when he swallowed. 

“What did you just fucking say?” Timmy was pushing him with the ball of his foot, on the verge of laughter. 

“Oh, yah, you would look like a baby panda. It would take you so long to get up there,” Armie pointed at the screen. “You’d miss all the steps and forget what you were doing by the time you got halfway up.”

“Man that is so fucking cruel, you have no faith in me at all.” Timmy whined but he was smiling, and ten minutes later he was smiling too, but Armie didn’t know if it was for the same reason. 

He was going to be a good friend this time around if it killed him. He hated not hanging out with Timmy, hated seeing all of Timmy’s questioning looks because he really had no answers, he was just as lost as Timmy was. But if this day showed him anything, it was that he couldn’t live without Timmy, so any of his own personal shit had to get left on the side or he might actually explode.

That was until he opened the door to see Timmy lying underneath another body on their couch, holding them close and accepting their tongue down his throat. Every inch of Armie’s body hurt. His ears rung with the sound of their mouths against each other, the sound of their clothes rustling on the cushions. His entire chest burned with something he couldn’t place, and he felt so nauseous he wanted to fall down. He slammed the door shut behind him. 

Timmy and Connor both jolted up and scooted away from each other, Timmy’s hand was at the back of his hair and he was looking down shyly. Connor was running his hands up and down his thighs and looking at Timmy with pleading eyes. 

“Hey, Armie I didn’t know you were gonna be back so soon.” He chuckled, finally looking up. 

“Okay, well, I am.” What kind of fucking excuse was that?

“Nice couch you got here,” Connor smiled weakly. He was trying to break the ice, but Armie wanted nothing more than to stay rigid. 

“Yah, I know.” 

“Okay. Uh, babe, maybe I’ll just push my workout up and head there now.” Armie wanted to punch this dude in the face but at least him leaving was on the right track. 

“You don’t have to,” Timmy pleaded to Connor and glared at Armie in the same second. 

“It’s okay. I’ll call you after?”

Timmy nodded and Connor kissed his cheek, having to duck because Timmy's head was hanging low. Connor picked up his stuff and passed Armie with a pat on the shoulder. “Nice to see you again man.”

“Yup.” Armie didn’t even look at him as he walked past and closed the door, only relaxing when he heard the satisfying click, but by then it was too late for him to realize what he actually just did. 

“Why the fuck were you being such an asshole?” Timmy accused loudly, using a tone Armie’d never heard from him before. “I thought we were fine Armie, I thought _this_ was fine.” He pointed to him and an imaginary Connor on the couch. 

“We are fine.” 

“But I can’t have a guy over or something? Is that it?”

“It’s none of my business what you do Timmy.” He didn’t know what to say, but he knew that was at least the truth.

“What?” Timmy’s voice cracked, squinted and twisted his neck aimlessly, falling back onto the cushions before jolting back up with renewed fervor. “It’s fucking circles with you isn’t it? I can’t do anything right; I have to fucking tiptoe around you with my fucking life but you’re not going to admit that you’re mad about something?” 

Armie felt glued to the ground, glued to his clothes and glued in his throat. It took so much effort for him to give Timmy a shrug. Timmy laughed bitterly, looked down at the couch and swiped his hand under his eye. 

“I just want to understand what I did,” his throat clung to the words, obviously slippery and broken. Timmy gave one last sniff before he was on his feet, pushing past Armie to his room. “I’m gonna get out of here.”

“Where are you going?” Armie’s voice sounded weird to his ears, more airy and vapid than it’s usual earthy tone. 

“Out, Armie. I don’t know, but I can’t stay here.” He had a bag on his shoulders when he came out, already leaving. “Tell me when you figure all of this out.” The door shut behind him and it was not at all satisfying. 

—

“Armie! My man! Dude I haven’t talked to you in ages, we’ve both been so busy.” 

“Am I homophobic to you?”

“What?”

“Like do I give off a homophobic, I don’t want you and your boyfriend here type of energy?”

“Hi Nick, nice to hear from you too, yah I’ve been fine –” 

“Nick I’m serious, please,”

“No, Armie you have never been homophobic to me. I very clearly remember you offering me the rest of your chips in response to me fucking _coming out_ to you like it wasn’t the most nerve wracking experience of my life.” 

“Well, shit. Because I’m homophobic as fuck now.” Armie laughed without joy. The fact he thought Nick could give him a clear cut answer of what his feelings were was naive, even though they have known each other for so long. He just didn’t know what to _do_ , Timmy had been gone for 24 hours and he missed him and there was no way for him to google “why am I such a bastard” and get the response he needed. 

“...What? Okay now I’m even more lost.”

“You know my roommate? Timmy? He’s gay.”

“And you hate him?”

“No! No he’s the best part of my life right now, I don’t like seeing him with guys.”

“Like you don’t like seeing guys together?”

“No...no I don’t think that’s it. Because I’ve seen guys kiss and I’ve been fine with it, you and your last boyfriend were the PDA capital and like, I didn’t give a fuck.”

“...Okay can you just hash this out from the beginning please?” 

So he did. He told him how they’d met and how Timmy was the perfect roommate for him, even though he was a fucking slob. How they could laugh together, and talk about anything, even fucking Treehouse Masters, for hours. How he was fine with the idea of Timmy being gay, but then they went to a club, and he saw Timmy with a guy and felt like he wanted to hurl. And how it’s been like that for weeks now. He would be so fucking anxious for Timmy to come home because he didn’t want him to talk about _Connor_ all night, because it literally made him sick. 

“And I just fucking snapped dude, like I couldn’t _talk_ I was so mad, and I came off as such an asshole, and Timmy left, and now I just... I need it to be better again, but how am I supposed to do that when I can’t stand the idea of him being with a guy?”

There was a significant silence over the phone. Armie understood, it really was a predicament and he let Nick think it through because that’s all he could really do anyways.

“Armie.”

“What do you got bud.”

“Armie I’m going to say something to you and you have to think about it, okay? Like actually formulate a thoughtful response.”

“Okay?”

“Do you think, maybe, you like Timmy?”

“Of course I like Timmy, Nick, that’s why this is so _hard_ –” 

“No, no. Armie. What I’m trying to ask is, do you think – you don’t like Timmy with other guys –because, you want to be with him instead?”

No.

What?

No.

Armie sucked in a breath. There was this weird pressure at the back of his throat and he felt like he’d swallowed an entire headless chicken, feathers and all. 

“What?” His voice broke. He couldn’t stop himself. His heart was pounding in his chest.

“You talk about him like he’s all you ever think about” he heard Nick whisper. “You said it yourself, you can be watching a documentary and you'll think of him.” 

“But –” He just needed the silence for a second. He didn’t actually have a retort. 

“He’s the best part of your life Armie?” 

Of course he was. He’d said it with confidence then and he’d say it again now. Timmy was... god everything was starting to make sense.

“You don’t have to... this doesn’t mean you have to do or say or label anything. I just thought you should know that this is what it looks like from here.” Nick continued. Armie stayed silent for a good while before he spoke.

“No, yeah, of course, I – thank you buddy.”

“I’m gonna hang up now, so you can, you know, ruminate.”

“Hmm? Oh, okay. Yah, I’ll. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“I love you dude.”

“I love you too.”

He thanked the whole universe for telling Nick to hang up, because there was no space in his brain for words. Only Timmy, Timmy, Timmy. Timmy tucking his hair behind his ears. Timmy showing all his teeth when he tipped his head back and laughed. Timmy shaking his hands out after he’d washed them, wiping it all over Armie’s shirt if he was close enough. Timmy kicking him from the other side of the couch. Timmy shaking his fucking hand because he thought it was the right thing to do. 

The ache in his chest did not let up, but it had altered itself in some way, like someone just blew too much air into his lungs and all he had to do was breathe out. Armie exhaled as fast as he could. 

So. He liked Timmy? He wanted to _be_ with Timmy? Those words did not feel comfortable in his head. Could they kiss? Armie thought about if he wanted to kiss Timmy - what his lips would feel like right after he’d bitten them nervously. He did. Could they hold hands? Armie thought about the things they did together and imagined their fingers linked through it all. They could. Of course he liked Timmy, of course he wanted it, of course. Of course!

There was no more glue on the ground, only pacing. Okay. Okay okay. This was a thing, maybe, but now what? How does he get Timmy back into their house. _Their_ house. God, this didn’t even help anything. Timmy was still mad! He’d really fucked up, and now his whole world had changed, and Timmy wasn’t even there to notice. 

He called but hung up after two rings. What was he going to say? He called one more time and got his fucking voicemail. Okay. He would leave one.

“Tim? Timmy look, I know I fucked up, and you shouldn’t be treated that way and – you didn’t do anything Tim, I just – I figured stuff out, I think, and I just need you here okay? I’m so sorry. I don’t know how to make it better but I’m gonna try. Please come home tonight. This is Armie by the way.” 

He hit end call before he could rethink it. It was done. If he didn’t come tonight, Armie would track him down some other way. 

— 

He bought pizza at 4 pm because he didn’t know what Timmy thought he meant by “tonight”; 5 was definitely considered “evening”, which could be construed as “night”, and he just wanted to be prepared. He sat on the couch and bounced his knee for four hours until the door started clicking and Timmy walked in, a sort of firm timidity in his steps. Armie stood up.

“Hi.” He called out. Suddenly everything he wanted to say sounded stupid and arbitrary and he wanted to fall into a hole. Timmy looked so small, but his face was still so nice, and Armie didn’t know how to feel because this was a very serious situation but Timmy had a really nice face. 

“There’s pizza.” 

“I’m not hungry.”

Armie winced. He knew there was a more elegant way to say “I love your everything” but he just wanted to get it out already, get them back to being civil with each other at least. 

“Can we sit down?” he asked, head gesturing to the couch below him.

Timmy walked towards their round dining table and pulled out a chair. He looked at Armie pointedly. Armie bit his lip and walked towards him, pulling out the chair to Timmy’s left. Timmy laid his head on his crossed arms and waited. 

“First, I’m sorry I acted like that yesterday. I had a fucking out of body experience and I just fucking...shut down.”

“That was you Armie, not some other person controlling you, that was you being the dick.”

“No! Yes! I didn’t mean I wasn’t taking responsibility for my actions, I just meant that I did them so instinctually, and I didn’t know why that was my first instinct, you know? Because you’re happy and I... I want you to be happy.” Armie quieted at his admission, letting out a breath. 

“Sure doesn’t feel like it to me!” Timmy retorted. “Feels like you only want what you want and I’m supposed to just know what you want like some kind of mind reading fuck –”

“I want you!” Okay, not the plan. Not. The plan. 

Timmy had looked like he was about to bolt and Armie had just needed to get it out. Now he felt like fucking dying. Timmy looked at him with his eyebrows up but there was no transition to a smile. 

“I can’t fucking – I don’t need this,” He really was bolting now, pushing himself away from the table and Armie couldn’t do anything but grasp onto his arm. 

“Please,” Armie pleaded, quiet and nervous and not even wanting to think about the sound of the door clicking again. Timmy stopped but he didn’t sit back down.

“You’re fucking with me Armie and it fucking hurts.” Timmy started to shake in his grip. “I’m not – you can’t just –” Armie shook his head. Kept shaking it as Timmy looked for words.

“I’m – why would I do that? No, Timmy, I... this is what I needed to tell you. I didn’t know why I hated seeing you with Connor, I even thought I was _homophobic_ but I knew I couldn’t be, because of how much I liked you. How comfortable I was around you. I’ve been wracking my brain for weeks about this, when you left I could feel myself fucking withering. I called Nick and I told him, and he reiterated it plain and clear. I like you. I’ve known that for a long time but now it’s a different sentence. I like you.”

Timmy’s mouth remained open, parted, his tongue pushing up against his cheek, his teeth nibbling in his lip. 

“You’re straight.” 

“I thought I was.” Armie huffed out a breathy laugh. Timmy’s eyes were flitting as he looked down at the ground, back up at Armie, back down at the ground again. There was a beat, and then another beat, and Armie didn't know how long he could manage being left out so raw. It had been more about getting Timmy back to him than sitting in this realization of _not straight_. He said it, and he didn't regret it, but Timmy needed to say something right fucking now. Timmy sucked in some air. 

“If this is weird, just, like, shove me please.” He shuffled around the dining table and onto Arnie’s lap, hands going to wrap around Armie’s chest and face on Armie’s shoulder. Every part of their bodies that was touching felt so _right_ , Armie brought his arms around him and felt Timmy melt onto him, his breaths a little shakey and his hands gripping on the back of Armie’s shirt. 

“You thought you were homophobic?” Timmy said with a wet laugh. Armie caught a tear threatening to fall down his cheek with his thumb and Timmy followed his movements with his sleeve. Armie smiled.

“I would look at other dudes kissing and think, why don’t I care if it’s them? Why is it just Timmy over there with that guy that makes me want to throw up?” They laughed at the absurdity, Armie couldn’t believe he’d been so daft.

When they settled, Timmy spoke while looking at the hand he put on Armie’s chest. “I didn’t think - I was trying to get over you. You were straight, and I felt so _stupid_ , but every time I said something you would flirt _back_ , and then you stopped talking to me...”

Armie rubbed up and down his thin bicep, his hand going instinctually to Timmy’s jaw until he found the sharp bone structure, the short hairs at the nape of his neck and he froze. Timmy looked at him with wide eyes.

“I’m nervous.” Armie told him, looking at his mouth then back to his eyes. Timmy bit his lip. 

“We could try,” He said cautiously, a push in neither direction. Armie nodded, leaned forward slowly, watched Timmy’s eyes flutter shut. He angled his mouth and closed the distance. 

When their lips touched it was like everything shattered and got put back together better than how it came. Timmy was so soft and slow, letting Armie decide how far the kiss was going to go. Armie gave him open mouthed pecks over and over until he swiped his tongue on Timmy’s lips and Timmy gasped. He chased the sound eagerly, holding onto Timmy’s face more firmly and plunging into his mouth. He felt Timmy’s arms go around his neck, felt him _groan_ and it got to be too much, he was feeling too much at the same time. He pulled back and rested their foreheads together. They were both breathing heavily into each other’s mouths. 

“Wow,” Armie whispered. 

“That’s a good sign.” Timmy nodded with a smile. 

They took things slow. Armie was at an elementary school level when it came to anything gay, Timmy’s words, not his. Armie was just happy to hold his hand when they sat on the couch or have Timmy’s head in his lap and feel his laughter shaking his legs. The first time he pulled Timmy’s hand as they were separating into their rooms for the night he tried to play it cool, but he was a nervous wreck, had never been this nervous and hesitant when it came to girls. They just kissed when they laid down on his bed, Armie’s arms wrapping all the way around Timmy’s waist above him. Timmy curled into Armie’s side when it finally became necessary for them to go to sleep. 

Saoirse came around to him very quickly once she found out, giving Timmy knowing glances that he shied away from into Armie’s shoulder. Armie relayed his embarrassing internal monologue to her, just to get the attention off of him. Timmy said he always added different things every time he told it, and it was true, he kept having these realizations of “ _That’s_ why I thought that then,” and so he constantly had new additions and anecdotes. 

He hadn’t told his parents or anything, something so far out of his mind, and Timmy supported him, because he knew how hard it would be to come out so quickly. They were pretty conservative, but Armie didn’t linger on any specific worries, he never had the time. 

All his time was put on Timmy. Timmy waking up on his shoulder all bleary eyed and dopey. Timmy’s legs tangled with his as he crushed him at every video game they played. Timmy showing him how it felt when he licked just behind his ear. Timmy groaning when Armie pulled his hair. Timmy eating, and laughing, and pouting, and with a shirt, and with no shirt, and with _his_ shirt. Armie never thought he could be so in love with his roommate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [baby panda video!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtMweQ3cIIQ)
> 
> I might write something explicit for this later, but I also have too much on my plate, so
> 
> Thank u for reading this! Follow me on [tumblr](https://nellipot.tumblr.com) to watch me cry about Armie Hammer on a daily basis


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This gave me a tooth ache and was also written with the assumption that everyone has seen the Breakfast Club. It's also ~Mature~ ;) (just a lil)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i bet you all thought i forgot about this one B-) i really did The Most here and I apologize

Timmy in the morning was...perfection. His eyes would be slightly puffy, his hair would be all over the place, and his face would be warm and soft, especially when it rubbed against Armie’s neck, as it so often did in his first few minutes of being awake. Armie learned he was incredibly cuddly when he was sleepy, stumbling over his feet and searching for him with half open eyes. That day he was already drinking coffee on the couch when Timmy got up, and those were his favorite mornings. Breakfast and a show.

He smiled behind his mug as he watched Timmy come out of his - their? Maybe he should call it their - room, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, his eyebrows scrunched and pouty because he wasn’t on a bed anymore. His hair was flopped on his forehead, his limbs light and pliant, and Armie scooted towards the arm of the couch and reached to cover the corner of their coffee table with one hand, because he wasn’t a morning-Timmy amateur. He waited for Timmy to slowly make his way toward him, groaning and humming nonsensically.

“Good morning,” he smiled, when Timmy found his neck, sitting back on Armie’s thighs contentedly. He didn’t wait for a response, putting down his coffee to rub Timmy’s back, just as content to sit there with their bodies touching. He thought Timmy was touchy before, but he apparently had no idea. 

\--

It wasn’t like this right at the beginning, Armie knew it was because Timmy was still skeptical about how far this relationship was going to go. 

“You’re fine with being with me, then.” He had asked, within the first couple days of Armie’s confession. “Even though I’m a man?” He wasn’t looking up at him, instead playing with Armie’s fingers on the table. Armie had snatched his hand up to kiss in response. 

“The alternative to being with you is hating every second you aren’t here.” He said, still brushing Timmy’s fingers across his lips. “And not getting to kiss your nice face.” He smiled when Timmy started to laugh and roll his eyes, squeezing his hand and letting it go. “So yeah. I’m okay with it.” 

Timmy was looking down again, one arm clutching his back, his cheeks squished into the crook of his elbow before looking back up.

“I should probably call Connor.”

Armie choked and sat up in his chair. “ _Fucking yes you need to call Connor_!” Timmy jerked back with his hands up guiltily.

“It wasn’t even that serious! It’s not like I’m breaking up with him.” Armie crossed his arms.

“It seemed pretty fucking serious to me.” 

That made Timmy smile and suck his bottom lip behind his teeth. He scooted his chair closer to him, then again and again in small steps, and Armie only side-eyed him, not giving up his pout, but letting Timmy come and kiss him on the cheek two times. 

“Okay, Mr. Jealous.” He said, chin on Armie’s shoulder. “No need to get all huffy.” He put his hand on Armie’s thigh and Armie finally looked at him then, because it was new, it was a new touch, and what he got back was Timmy’s eyes still looking unsure, not moving his hand but not going any further, just asking if it was okay. He looked down at Timmy’s lips, so close and pink, then back to his eyes, and turned his head to kiss him, slow and with one hand at his jaw, because his arms had uncrossed fairly quickly after that.

And their days went on like this, them revealing more of themselves to each other, things Armie was surprised they didn’t know, what with them being together-but-not-together for so long. Timmy wasn’t a morning person. Armie was constantly hungry. Timmy shivered even with the heat on. Armie mumbled to himself while he thought. They learned other things too.

(“Oh, _really_?” Armie smirked, pulling his mouth from where it was sucking under Timmy’s jaw. Timmy’s eyes were closed, his head arching off the armrest, his hair still caught between Armie’s fingers from where he’d tugged. 

“Shut up and do it again,” Timmy huffed, pulling at Armie’s shirt to bring him closer. He obliged, obviously, to see the way Timmy’s lips parted as he made the same noise he’d made when Armie did it the first time. Armie kissed the tip of his chin because he couldn’t help it, and Timmy’s open mouth upturned just a little.

“How far are we going today?” Timmy asked, eyes still closed but petting Armie’s hair. 

“Here’s fine.” Armie said, watching Timmy’s eyelashes flutter as he kissed the same spot.

Timmy breathed deeply out of his nose and nodded. “Let me just, recalibrate.” 

Armie smiled as Timmy scrunched his face up, and leaned back in to drag his teeth on Timmy’s neck.

“Not fucking helping asshole,” Timmy groaned, his hips canting up into Armie’s thigh. Armie gasped at the feeling, the hard dick underneath Timmy’s sweats, and pushed against him instantly with a sigh into his throat. 

“Okay, maybe a little farther.” He said, the words muffled.)

He was always surprising himself by how much he wanted Timmy, like, _he knew_ , but he also probably didn’t know. 

When he looked back on his days with Timmy before he’d come to his senses (“before Nick got you to come to your senses,” he could hear Timmy correct, Nick cheering him on over the phone) he couldn’t help but want to take himself by the shoulders and _shake, exasperatedly_ , because _come on, Armie, how could you not know_?

Like this one time, Timmy had just gotten home from his job, and Armie had been lounging around all day, his body sunk deep into the couch cushions and his feet up on the coffee table, channel surfing as if he hadn’t just surveyed all his options 5 times over. He’d only turned his head slightly from where it rested on his fingers and smiled as Timmy walked over to join him. 

“Hey, hubby.” Timmy grinned, kicking Armie’s legs so they’d move out of his way.

“Hello, dear,” Armie drawled, watching Timmy repeatedly walk into his calves and not letting up. Timmy finally made a huge dramatic show of climbing over them, bracing himself on Armie’s knees and going one leg after the other. It’d made Armie laugh.

“God, your monster legs need to just fuck off.” Timmy panted, falling into the spot next to him. 

“You’d have to strap me to your chest, me and my legless body, do you want that?” He asked, raising his eyebrows. Timmy had quickly looked down at his torso and his cheeks went pink.

“Oh my god,” Armie laughed. “I am literally a piece of meat to you.” He’d put his arm around Timmy’s shoulders to show he was only teasing. 

“Not true!” Timmy said, his face briefly hidden in Armie’s shoulder. Armie felt him smiling. 

“I cannot believe I am being objectified in my own house. This is supposed to be a safe space,” He huffed dejectedly, looking up at the ceiling. He remembered not really minding that Timmy had blushed, he’d thought it was endearing, or at least not unlike him. 

“I like, totally respect you.” Timmy said, settling his back against Armie’s side and getting curls all over his neck.

“Yah, whatever.” Armie tapped Timmy’s chest with the hand he had around him. “Remote.” Timmy obliged. 

They’d watched the Breakfast Club because Armie had flipped past it and Timmy wouldn’t stop pestering him until he changed it back.

“Favorite character; go.” Timmy exclaimed, still kicking around because he’d gotten his way. Armie rolled his eyes.

“Principal Vernon.” Armie said with feigned haughtiness. Timmy had squawked.

“Okay one, he’s _Assistant_ Principal Vernon, so _doubly_ rude.” And of _course_ he knew that.

“I like Allison.” Timmy said, quieter.

“The basket case,” Armie whispered, waggling his eyebrows and nudging Timmy til he looked up and laughed. “I didn’t think she needed to be all done up by Lipstick Boobs. The jock liked her before then.”

“It was more about the fact that _Lipstick Boobs_ had actually _wanted_ to do her up,” Timmy looked at him pointedly, “But I get what you’re saying. It’s idealistic, but I get it.”

“Idealistic that she didn’t need it?” Armie asked. He watched the back of Timmy’s head nod. “He got to know her. You know someone, you like what you know, you like them.” Armie shrugged. “Everything else is just... makeup.” 

Timmy didn’t respond.

“God, the dancing in this kills me,” Armie laughed.

“You dance just like that,” Timmy said, one hand on Armie’s wrist and the other pointing to the screen. Lipstick boobs was pounding her fists in the air and shaking her head.

“What a fucked up thing for you to say,” Armie leaned back, offended, but Timmy wrapped his other hand around Armie’s wrist, keeping him there, so Armie settled again, not annoyed enough to fight, not really annoyed at all.

Armie had woken up with the TV on a blender commercial and Timmy on his chest, asleep and curling Armie’s shirt loosely in his fist. He’d rubbed both eyes with one hand, pulling down the skin and pinching his nose, and looked down at a blurry Timmy, mouth open and curls all over his face. It wasn’t... he remembered it not being unwelcomed; the solid weight of Timmy on top of him. It felt normal, or what ever, he didn’t really think about why. Now he _wished_ he had, because, and maybe this was just hindsight, but when he was taken back to that night, after he had turned the TV off and laid in the dark hearing Timmy breathe, he remembered the itch in the crook of his elbow, the itch that wanted him to settle his arm across Timmy’s back, pull him in, or just feel him under it. He could have done it. And this could have been going on for a while.

It wasn’t like their time before this was wasted, though. It made things easier, even.

“We should go on a date.” Armie reasoned, toothbrush still stuck in his cheek. Timmy’s was on the flat of his tongue, and he quirked an eyebrow, then spit in the sink and wiped his mouth on his hand. 

“A date?”

Armie smiled. He could tell Timmy was especially intrigued when he restrained himself from babbling. “Yeah, I wanna hold your hand and shit,” He said, brushing his molars and spitting too. “Sweep you away from puddles,” He dried his hands and put them on Timmy’s hips. “Watch you order off the kid’s menu.”

Timmy laughed, and swatted him away without really swatting him away. “That was one time,” he complained. Armie shrugged, more preoccupied with why he could smell the mint even behind Timmy’s ear. “I would like that though.” Timmy said, his hand on Armie’s neck.

“Cool.” He pulled back, nonchalant, sauntering away, but Timmy rolled his eyes and jumped him, kissing him with his arms around Armie’s neck. 

“It’s very weird that I can do that now,” Timmy said, their faces still close. Armie raised his eyebrows.

“Guess I have to do it more til it’s not.”

He was fucking happy that Timmy was excited about it, because they honestly did this all the time, but now there was a different name for it, not just grabbing dinner, going _out_ to dinner. Armie was excited too. And nervous. He was always so nervous with Timmy.

So nervous that he was staring blankly at his bed, rubbing his chin and turning towards the three shirts he laid out on it over and over. Timmy had seen him wear all of these; he wished he’d asked _after_ he bought something that he hadn’t spilled food on in front of him, or worn for three days straight, or fallen all over Timmy in with gross drunk alcohol-y breath. 

“As much as I could stare at this all day,” Timmy said, startling Armie and making him turn around. He was leaning against Armie’s door frame, arms crossed, smiling with his lip between his teeth. “You’re too cute for me not to say something.”

Armie huffed. “Don’t make fun of me, this is important.”

“Yeah?”

“Of course,” Armie said. “I can’t just wear the same shirt you watched me throw up on after your office Christmas party.” He shook his head, holding up one of the contenders and walking back to hang it up again. He turned to look at Timmy with his eyebrows scrunched up.

“Did I go to that party as your date?” Timmy looked down and shrugged. 

“If you’re referring to what everyone else thought, then yeah, kinda.” 

Armie groaned. “ _Shit_. There was mistletoe too. That would have been romantic as fuck.”

“Honestly? My thoughts exactly.”

Armie didn’t respond, just bounded over and swept Timmy up to kiss him all over his cheeks. He couldn’t make up for all the times Timmy might have been sad, or frustrated, or hopeless because of him (he only had to live without Timmy for what? 24 hours? Fuck.) but he could kiss him as much as he deserved now. Timmy laughed and clung on to him, and turned Armie’s head to kiss him fully, and Armie hummed, his hold on Timmy making it so they were the same height. Timmy smiled at him when they parted, shimmied so Armie would let him back on his feet, and pulled out something from Armie’s closet suspiciously fast. 

“If you wore this,” He said, innocently, holding up a brown sweater with tan stripes. “I wouldn’t be mad.”

“Righhht, you wouldn’t be mad,” Armie smiled, plucking it out of his hands. He pulled his t-shirt up over his head by the back of his collar and fumbled to orient the sweater the right way. He looked up at Timmy, only elbows deep in the thing, and bit back a laugh.

“This is cruel and unusual punishment.” Timmy shook his head, but didn’t look away as Armie pulled it onto his body.

Armie looked down at himself and tugged at the hem. “Pants?” He asked, looking up curiously.

“Do I get to opt for no?” 

Armie gave him a little shrug and tried to hide his smile. “Maybe later.”

They hadn’t really _done_ anything yet, except for make out in each other’s beds and like, some half naked cuddling. Armie was coming to know what it felt like to touch the skin on Timmy’s ribs, and to hold Timmy’s waist in his arms, and like, he _wanted_ more, (he was a man, in bed, with an extremely attractive person, of course he wanted more) but on the other hand Timmy still took a good six seconds to settle into the thought that he even _was_ holding him. He could tell by the way Timmy never gave him all his weight at first, like he was there but could float away from him at any second. Armie needed him to know he wasn’t going to let _go_ for a while.

Plus, no matter how much the idea of everything enticed him, or how turned on he was, this was all so fucking scary. It was just so... _new_. He literally had no idea what he was doing and yet he wanted to do it all, which was incredibly confusing, and he felt like he couldn’t trust himself to make any decisions. He knew he shouldn’t feel embarrassed that Timmy, in contrast, knew _exactly_ what he was doing, but that was always at the back of his head too. Everything was just... a lot.

But them, walking down the street, Timmy stopping in front of street performers, Armie pointing out dumb outfits in shop windows, was so normal, and now they got to _hold hands_ while doing it. The best part about Timmy and him together so far was that nothing had really changed, and it was still easy to goof around and tease and talk to Timmy like he had before. 

“Why is this place so fancy?” Timmy asked, his wide eyes the only thing visible from behind the menu.

“Because I’m trying to impress you.” Armie looked at him, frowning, because that was obvious. Timmy laughed and put the menu down, going over it with his hand holding up his cheek and a small smile on his face. Armie reached over to hook both legs around one of Timmy’s and toed at his ankle, smiling when Timmy reciprocated with a squeeze. He looked so nice, his white collar peeking out from his dark sweater, his long curls failing to stay where he tucked them behind his ear.

“Get anything,” He said, reading over the menu again. “And stop looking at the cheese pizza.” He looked up knowingly, and Timmy bit his lip, sheepish.

“I wasn’t looking at the cheese pizza...”

“You were looking at the cheese pizza because it’s cheap and you need to stop looking at the cheese pizza.” 

Timmy collapsed on the table with his head in his arms. “It’s too nice,” He groaned.

Armie put the menu down and pried Timmy’s hand out from underneath him, weaving their fingers together loosely and scratching his thumb on Timmy’s palm.

“You deserve too nice.” He said quietly, smiling to reassure Timmy when he looked up again.

“Stop saying things like that.” He looked like he was in pain. Armie turned up his nose.

“I will not.” He teased, grinning and keeping their hands entwined as the waiter came over to take their order. It made his heart beat loudly in his chest, because they were here together, and everyone could see they were here together.

He couldn’t help but watch Timmy fondly as he scooped buttered gnocchi and cheese up with his spoon, holding it like a shovel, tongue coming out to taste it before it even got to his mouth. He cut a piece of his steak and held it up for Timmy to eat, one hand cupped under the fork, and Timmy looked at him shyly before leaning over and opening his mouth. God, he wanted to kiss him.

“Can we make out in the bathroom for like, _two_ seconds then I promise we can be fancy again.” 

Timmy’s eyes went wide and he covered his mouth with his hand as he chewed. He swallowed, still with the same look on his face and licked his lips. “Why are you so perfect?” he rasped.

“Taking that as a yes.” Armie took the napkin off his lap and threw it onto his chair, pushed away from the table and pulled Timmy’s hand, walking quickly towards the restroom sign in the back corner.

“I’ll taste like steak and cheese,” Timmy whined as Armie pulled him in by his waist.

“ _God_ even better.” Armie said, dipping Timmy back and pressing their lips together. Timmy hummed a laugh. It was definitely for more than two seconds.

“Would you like to look at our dessert menu?” The waiter asked them, Timmy’s hair a little more messed up, Armie straightening out his sweater under the table.

“No thank you, the check will be fine,” He looked at Timmy when the waiter walked away and kissed his fingers. “We’re going somewhere else for dessert.”

Timmy pulled out his wallet when the check came and Armie raised his eyebrows.

“Cute.” He said, pulling out his card and sticking it into the slot, laughing and dodging Timmy when he tried to take it from his hands.

“Let me pay for my meal you caveman.” Timmy huffed, reaching for it even though Armie was clutching it to his chest.

“Flattery will get you nowhere.” Armie laughed.

They walked out of the restaurant and Timmy linked their arms, the other hand coming up to hold onto Armie’s bicep. “I am feeling thoroughly schmoozed.” He smiled into Armie’s shoulder, tipping his head up when Armie leaned down for a kiss, laughing and breaking away when he felt Armie flexing his arm under his fingers.

“You’re an idiot,” He shook his head, as Armie scrunched his face and bit his lip dramatically, his fist clenched.

“I’m glad we’re getting that out of the way already.” Armie nodded.

He stopped Timmy from talking a few blocks away from their apartment, stopped them from walking too, and nudged his head in the direction of the doors to their right. “We have arrived at dessert,” He said, pleased when Timmy’s voice caught on his words and his mouth curled up when he saw the sign.

“This is soft, even for you.” He breathed out a laugh, still looking up at it as Armie pulled him through the doors. 

They sat at their regular booth, right next to the windows along the right wall, and Armie thought Timmy looked just as beautiful in harsh diner lighting as he did in the candlelit restaurant just 15 minutes before. 

“Hey Cathy,” Armie smiled as the women came up and raised her eyebrows. She was always at Hal’s around this time, messy bun and exasperated pout, but they both knew it was all for show. They could see the smile lines around her mouth and eyes. “Can we have two chocolate milkshakes, and apple pie with cheese on top, and the brownie sundae? Oh, and the strawberry waffles to go.” Armie swung Timmy’s hand around with a grip on his thumb as he looked up at her and ordered.

“Alright, love birds, glad to see you’re not hiding it anymore for my benefit.” She smirked, jotting down the order and sauntering away. They looked at each other with wide eyes and burst into laughter when she left.

“We just made Cathy smile!” Timmy squealed. 

“As if tonight could get any better!” Armie said with similar zeal. Timmy pushed his hand through his hair and sighed. 

“My cheeks literally hurt from smiling so much.” He chuckled, shaking his head. Armie bit his lip.

“I am torn between concern and like, pure fucking joy.” That made Timmy laugh, and then groan.

“God what did you even order? That is sugar overload.”

“Uh, that’s why I got _cheese_ on top,” Armie rolled his eyes. 

“Right, of course, how could I forget.”

Timmy had gone quiet on their way home, holding the hand Armie had around his shoulder as they strolled to their building and then up the stairs. 

“What’s going on in your head?” Armie asked, nudging him a little. Timmy looked out to the passing cars on the street instead of him. 

“Not to be like...” He sighed, and Armie rubbed the webbing of his fingers with his thumb. “Okay, whatever. This was one of the best nights of my life.” It made Armie melt, warmth spread all over his chest and he squeezed Timmy into him tighter, pushed his forehead onto Timmy’s temple.

“That’s...” He exhaled giddily. “Good. Mine – me too.” He rubbed the tip of his nose along Timmy’s cheek and kissed it, not letting him go until he had to pat his pockets for the key to their door. 

He put the keys on their end table. “We can watch something if you want, or we could pretend to watch it while doing _other_ \- hey, what are you doing?”

When he had turned around Timmy had been in the same place in front of the door, playing with his fingers and scratching at his palm. Armie inched closer, slowly. 

“You’re sad, why are you sad?” He was slightly panicked, this interaction seemed all to similar to the one they’d had not too long ago. He didn’t want to keep making Timmy sad, he thought today was okay, more than okay, a _dream_. He lifted Timmy’s chin with one finger, and Timmy let him for a second before turning away again, rocking on his heels, fingers going through the motions of cracking his knuckles by his sides but not pushing hard enough to make any noise. His hand came up to pinch at the skin of his neck.

“Do you remember that night we watched the Breakfast Club? And I fell asleep on you?”

Armie smiled. “Yeah, you were drooling all over my shirt and it took me hours to get you to stop apologizing.”

Timmy bit his lip. “I don’t know why you didn’t shove me.”

“I didn’t want to.” Armie shrugged. “Like, I was incredibly clueless and it’s fucking frustrating to remember, but the whole time I truly didn’t want to stop being with you, I just never thought about _why_.”

“And I get that part, like it wasn’t even an option you considered.” Armie nodded at him. “But like, you also said something else, and maybe it’s weird that I remember it or whatever –”

“Timmy, stop. You don’t have to do that. I care about you just as much, I remember that night too.”

“I ah –” Timmy sighed, looking up at him. “Okay. Well, you just said something about how if you know someone, and you like what you know, you like them.” Armie nodded.

“Everything else is just makeup.” He finished for him. “It’s true, I like who you are.” Armie stepped up to him to place a hand on his cheek. “I like _you_.” 

Timmy nuzzled into his palm, but still wasn’t looking at him, and still had a frown on his face. He sighed.

“Okay, don’t get me wrong, when you said that the first time that’s all I could think about, like, you made my tiny gay dreams come true,” He laughed wetly and Armie smiled, but in the concerned way, because tears were forming in Timmy’s eyes. “But now all I think about is how you can only dismiss this very big, _male_ part of me as makeup for so long; like, I know you like who I am, but what if that’s not enough?”

Everything about Timmy was breaking Armie’s heart right then. The fact that he was keeping this burden with him _still_ no matter how much Armie tried to make him forget it, the fact that he didn’t think Armie wanted him for anything but what? His brain? Armie smoothed back Timmy’s hair before resting his other hand on Timmy’s face, pulling him up so he would look him in the eyes. 

“You don’t think I’m attracted to you?” He smiled softly. “You don’t think my whole life revolves around the way you bite your lips when you’re nervous,” He brushed Timmy’s bottom lip with his thumb. “Four times by the way, in this conversation alone.” That made Timmy laugh and he sniffled, and Armie wiped the tears now streaming down his cheeks with the side of his fist. “I love your eyes, I love your neck, I love your jaw.” He pressed a kiss underneath it for emphasis, and Timmy’s eyes fluttered shut. “I love your hair, I love your waist, I love your thighs,” He pulled Timmy closer and rubbed his back, inching lower and going to whisper in his ear. “I love your ass.” He smiled.

Timmy whimpered into the join of Armie’s neck and shoulder, held him tighter, plastering their bodies together as Armie kneaded him over his pants.

“I don’t…I don’t know how to do any of this, so I’m sorry if I’ve been coming off as distant, maybe? I… it makes me so sad that you’ve thought this.” Armie shut his eyes tight, breathing into the curls at the nape of Timmy’s neck. He smelled like warmth, if that was a thing. They stayed like that for a while.

Timmy pulled back. “I need you to know I’m totally fine with taking it slow, like, truly, I don’t want to skip any steps.” Armie bit his lip and nodded. 

“Yeah, slow. I’m sorry if that’s a total buzz kill.” Timmy shook his head repeatedly and raked his hands into the back of Armie’s hair. 

“It’s not, really. It’s not.” Timmy kissed him, licking into Armie’s mouth gently and Armie sighed, opening up for him and turning his head to deepen it further. 

“I think maybe, you need to take your hands off my ass though,” Timmy panted after a few minutes, laughter fighting against a groan when Armie smiled and squeezed him one more time before pulling off.

Timmy would check in with him if they did anything knew, or if he was getting too worked up and wanted Armie to stop before things got too... serious. Sometimes, it wasn’t serious enough though. Sometimes, Armie had to ask for things.

Timmy was straddled across Armie’s lap on his bed, Armie’s back against the wall, neck bared as Timmy sucked at his skin with both hands bracketing his face. He ground up into him and Timmy moaned, and everything about this felt so good, he just kept wanting more. He grabbed Timmy’s hips in his hands and pushed him down to meet his thrusts, and Timmy hid his face in Armie’s throat, breathing hot air, letting Armie move him back and forth.

“Is it...” Armie breathed, eyes closed, not stopping his movements. “I’m gonna come.” 

Timmy nodded, holding on by the nape of Armie’s neck, his forehead nestled on the bridge of Armie’s nose. “Please,” Timmy panted, quickening his movements, kissing up Armie’s jaw. Armie sighed, let his release build up until he came in his pants, holding onto Timmy through every tremor. He laughed and squeezed his eyes shut.

“If this wasn’t you, I would be incredibly embarrassed that I keep coming in my pants.”

 _Keep_ was a strong word for it, seeing as it had only happened once before, with him pushing into Timmy on the couch, unable to help it, Timmy’s hands in his hair encouraging him, _come on, come on, fuck_. They’d both come rutting into each other that time, but now Armie could still feel Timmy’s hard cock against his torso, and looked down to see it curved to the side through his shorts.

“It’s probably the hottest thing I’ve ever seen... so far.” Timmy laughed, still breathing heavy, putting his forehead on Armie’s chest. 

“You’re still hard,” Armie told him, clutching onto his elbows.

“What gave it away?” Timmy asked, bucking his hips up into him again slightly. Armie smiled, and rubbed his back, then tried to put a lingering thought into words.

“Can I watch you, like, get off?” He said, hesitant. 

Timmy pulled his head up to look at him, eyes blown and mouth parted, hand going to the side of Armie’s throat as he nodded. “Fuck, yes, where do you want me?” That made Armie’s stomach lurch with desire. 

“Um. You – on me, preferably.” He laughed sheepishly, eyes going up Timmy’s torso and back to his face. He was biting his lip.

“Yeah. Okay, yeah. Let me just,” He climbed off of Armie’s lap, to Armie’s dismay, and rolled his eyes when Armie squawked. “Chill.” 

He shimmied out of his shorts and kicked them across the floor, then hooked his thumbs in his boxers and watched Armie as he slowly dragged them down his legs, skimming his fingers to the back to push it over his ass, stepping out of it, naked from the waist down. Armie licked his lips and took him in before making grabby hands at him and getting him to climb back on his lap. His cock jutted up, red, leaking, almost touching Armie’s stomach and he needed Timmy to touch himself already, he had no patience. 

“This off too,” He told him, tugging at the hem of Timmy’s shirt and pulling it over his head. 

“Now I’m naked and you’re fully clothed,” Timmy laughed, still raising his arms and letting Armie throw his shirt on the floor too. 

“Yeah,” Armie nodded, looking up at Timmy through his eyelashes, running his hands up and down Timmy’s sides. It made Timmy’s neck go red and he clutched the collar of Armie’s shirt in his fist.

“Fuck.”

He looked down, other hand going to wrap around his cock, and pumped up slowly into his fist, sliding to hold onto Armie’s shoulder. Armie watched his slim fingers twist and heard the whines coming from the back of Timmy’s throat, so he kissed him on his collarbone, tongued at the skin of his neck. 

“Fucking hell Armie,” Timmy gasped, tipping his head back as Armie licked and bit him, as Armie ran his hands all over his body. 

“This - you look so good, you’re perfect, Timmy.” 

He was squirming up and down on Armie’s lap with his eyes closed, but he opened them and smiled, kissing Armie with fervor. He sucked at Timmy’s lips, their noses mashed together, and Timmy sucked in a breath when Armie’s hand ghosted over his, then nudged, then took its place. He rested his forehead on Armie’s, eyes wide, breathing into his mouth, and Armie nodded, stroked him the way he liked it, flicking his wrist and savoring the burning feeling in his chest as he watched Timmy buck up desperately, because Timmy liked it, because Armie was able to do something Timmy liked. 

“It’s too dry, I need –” He was cut off by Timmy, who rushed to tug his hand up by the wrist and lick up from heel to fingertip, suckling at Armie’s middle finger when he reached the top, one loose curl covering his eyes. 

“Holy motherfucking hell.”

He needed to up his game, he wanted to make Timmy _come_ , so he tugged a fist full of Timmy’s hair and watched Timmy’s head fall back with out a fight, squeezed the base of his cock firmly and stroked him hard and fast, which was enough for Timmy to shout and sob, his come shooting up onto his own chest and Armie’s hand as he strained up and down on Armie’s lap, thrusting for even more friction, licking his lips over and over and heaving through his breaths. Armie scratched at his scalp and he openly _purred_ at the feeling of it, tipping his head back and nuzzling Armie’s grip on his hair. 

“Oh my god you’re so cute,” Armie groaned, pushing his nose into Timmy’s throat, kissing under his chin, then his jaw, then his lips. 

Timmy squirmed out of his grasp after a few seconds, and Armie made a puzzled noise, but then Timmy was between his legs, bent forward on the bed, hands on both of Armie’s thighs and inching toward the button of his pants. 

“Tell me to stop.” He breathed, nodding, his eyes telling Armie it was okay if this was too much, that he wouldn’t push him farther than they’d already gone. But Armie wanted it, couldn’t believe the look of him there, needed to keep that look forever, in a jar, or on a shelf or some shit. He was toast.

“I don’t want you to stop.” Armie told him. Timmy smiled, and bit his lip.

“Okay.”

The way Timmy groaned when he got Armie in his hand, lapped at the _come_ that was already _there_ because Armie already _came_ , and took Armie’s cock into his mouth got him hard again in an instant. His lips were already so full and wet all the time, but there, wrapped around the head of his dick, looking up at him and taking him deeper, it was another ball game, in another city, in another country, in another world.

“I’ve wanted to do this for so long,” Timmy said, popping off and using his hand, dragging his lower lip up the shaft. 

“I would’ve let you,” Armie said, his chest clenched, aching for more but wanting Timmy to say more things. “I’d let you do anything.”

“Yeah?” Timmy smiled, swirling his tongue, looking fucking filthy as he bobbed back down, took his whole cock at once, and _fuck_ that felt so good, he wanted to do it to Timmy, to make him feel this good.

“I want to do everything to you,” Armie gasped as he went faster. “I don’t want to go slow, I want you now.”

Timmy hummed a laugh, pushed his hands up and down Armie’s thighs and pulled off again.

“We’ll see how you feel about that tomorrow, I’m gonna make you come now, okay?”

Armie nodded. “Okay.”

Timmy stroked him as he bit at his thighs, then sucked each of his balls into his mouth, until Armie was begging, _okay, okayokayokay,_ insistent and bucking up into every touch Timmy gave him. Timmy smiled, because was fucking loving it, because he was a bastard, and Armie probably loved him. Armie definitely loved him, which was the most cliché thing to think when someone was sucking your dick, and they hadn’t even had sex yet, and he felt like a fucking prude, which was ridiculous, but Timmy made him feel ridiculous things. So there was no reason not to embrace the cliché.

Timmy finally swallowed around him, his cheeks hollowing out, his tongue flattening against his length and he literally sucked the orgasm right out of him, the fucking pro, who he loved, and he was so spent, and then Timmy came to suck on his neck, and he was so happy, and he kissed him on the mouth, and tasted himself on Timmy’s tongue, and didn’t know how much of a turn on that was going to be, so he groaned, and Timmy laughed at him.

“I’m sorry,” Timmy said, head curling under Armie’s neck, “That wasn’t me trying to instigate things into moving faster.”

“Nuh uh.” Armie shook his head, wrapping his arms around Timmy’s waist and pulling him closer. “No take backs. You’re not getting rid of me now, I’m here for good.” _I love you_ he meant.

\--

And now here he was, with Timmy under his chin as always, snuffling into his neck, his voice all gravelly with sleep, his hands on Armie’s shoulders and his knees around Armie’s hips, and Armie rubbed his back.

“You gotta get ready soon,” Armie said softly, because he was not a morning-Timmy amateur.

“Kay,” Timmy sighed, not moving at all.

“We actually have somewhere to _be_ this morning.”

“Yah,” Timmy nodded.

They scooted into their usual booth, both on the same side, and Timmy rested his head on Armie’s shoulder while they waited.

“Hello, my lovies,” Saoirse sang as she came through the door.

Timmy held out his arms, still on Armie’s shoulder, but asking for kisses nonetheless.

They ate, and Timmy stole pieces of waffle from Armie’s plate, and Armie kept one hand on his thigh, and Saoirse told them about how her latest conquest wouldn’t stop thirst texting her, but with a smaller smile, one that made it seem like she was secretly pleased.

“She might have a husband?” She winced, bracing them with their hands when they startled. “But I think he’s okay with it. She’s like an artist-type. A _director_ " Saoirse sighed. “Besides, we can’t all have the love of our lives living under our nose.” She said pointedly.

Armie squeezed higher on Timmy’s leg and Timmy shoved him with his shoulder. “Knock it off,” He laughed with gritted teeth.

“God you’re disgustingly cute.” Saoirse groaned.

“I remember you thinking quite the opposite when you first met me,” Armie said, crossing his arms on the table and lifting his eyebrows.

Saoirse scoffed. “Yeah, because little miss thing over here was making googly eyes at you the whole time and I thought you were no-homoing him, obviously.”

“I don’t make _googly_ eyes,” Timmy huffed, covering his eyes with the heel of his hands.

“You do.” Armie and Saoirse both said together.

Timmy hid his face in Armie’s neck. “You’re supposed to be nicer to me than she is,” He whined, mimicking Armie’s earlier grip on _his_ thigh, except _higher_ and much more distracting.

“Okay you’re right I’m sorry,” Armie rushed out, stopping his hand and feeling Timmy smile into his throat. Saoirse rolled her eyes at them. “I was honestly much more embarrassing than Timmy, though.” Armie coughed, twining their fingers together under the table. “I thought my savage jealousy for anyone that got to touch him was me being homophobic.”

Saoirse smiled. “He’s told me all of this.”

“But _I_ haven’t told you all of this,” Armie countered. 

She shrugged in defeat, still smiling and gestured him to go on.

Armie looked down at Timmy, who turned his head to rest his chin on Armie’s shoulder, and sometimes he couldn’t believe he got here, and sometimes he could see in Timmy’s eyes that he was thinking the same thing. He squeezed Timmy’s fingers and turned back to Saoirse.

“Well first off, when we met, Timmy shook my fucking hand.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes they did wear the ellen outfits to their first date, and yes that is the best outfit Armie's ever worn, @ me and we can fight about it (please don't i'm all talk)
> 
> thank you for reading!!!!!!!!!


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